Alternatively usable rotary and longitudinal material guiding means



Jan. 13, 1959 A. L. WILLIAMS ,8 6

ALTERNATIVELY USABLE ROTARY AND LONGITUDINAL MATERIAL GUIDING MEANS Filed Feb. 27, 1953 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 II I NE n Si INVENTOR- lk HRTHUR L. WILLIHMS Jan. 13, 1959 A. WILLIAMS 2,368,265

ALTERNATIVELY USABLE ROTARY AND LONGITUDINAL MATERIAL GUIDING MEANS 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Feb. 27, 1953 INVENTOR. HRTHUR L. WILL/HMS wy wi Rrrorney Jan. 13, 1959 .WILLI'AMS 2,868,265 ALTERNATIVELY s E ROTARY AND LONGITUDINAL Filed Feb. 27, 1953 MAT GUIDING MEANS 4 sheets sheet 3 I 3 y! 3 I c- I I I IN 3 j! s l a; 1 A I Q (2 N 2 f 2. 2 1 x .3 g & Q I! 2 7- i my r 2 N I, \o a ,I' W .I:\ g 11 I m '6 Q 1;, I) x 7/ N T.

JNVENTOR. H RTHUR L. WILL/HMS B WJAUJZ Jan. 13, 1959 A. L. WILLIAMS USABLE ROTARY MATERIAL GUIDING MEANS 2,868,265 ALTERNATIVELY AND LONGITUDINAL.

4 Sheets-Sheet. 4

Filed Feb. 27, 1953 3 a N am S Mn 3 INVENTOR, FIRTHuR L. WILL/HMS Hlrorney United States Patent ALTERNATIVELY USABLE ROTARY AND LONGI- TUDINAL MATERIAL GUIDING MEANS Application February 27, 1953, Serial No. 339,290

8 Claims. (Cl. 153--54) My invention relates to material guiding means, more particularly to guide roll means for guiding material that is adapted to move in more than one direction, and the principal object of my invention is to provide new and improved guide means of the character described.

My invention is particularly well-suited for use in combination with apparatus for producing tubular members from relatively flat stock; however, my invention may be advantageously employed wherever material must be guided in more than one direction.

In prior art apparatus and particularly in apparatus for producing tubular members, it has been common practice to employ guide shoes to guide the material from which the tubular member is formed through the apparatus. Guide shoes have been employed in certain prior art apparatus because of the necessity of guiding the material without limiting its movement to one particular direction. However, the use of guide shoes has certain disadvantages: the surface of the material has a tendency to become scratched in sliding over the guide shoes and control of the direction of movement of the material is not always satisfactory.

My invention is superior to the means employed in the past since it will accurately guide material without scratching the surface or marking it in any way. These and other advantages will become apparent from a study of the following description and of the drawings appended hereto.

In the drawings accompanying this specification and forming a part of this application there is shown, for purpose of illustration, an embodiment which my invention may assume and in these drawings:

Figure 1 is a fragmentary, side elevational view of apparatus embodying my invention,

Figure 2 is a sectional view generally corresponding to the line 22 of Figure 1,

Figure 3 is a view similar to Figure 2 but showing certain parts in another position,

Figure 4 is an enlarged view generally corresponding to the line 44 of Figure 2, and

Figure 5 is a sectional view generally corresponding to the line 55 of Figure 4.

My invention is shown applied to conventional apparatus for producing tubular members and such conventional apparatus may be briefly described as follows: In the present embodiment, the conventional apparatus comprises a main frame structure having a pair of spacedapart arms 11 and 12 which extend laterally from the frame 10. As illustrated, the arms 11, 12 are generally parallel and the free end of each supports a respective circular welding electrode 13, 14. The electrode or welding wheel 14 is rotatably supported in bearings provided by the arm 12, and the wheel 13 is rotatable in bearings provided by a slide 15 that is slidably secured to the arm 11 in a conventional manner. The foregoing is in accordance with well known seam welder construction and a more detailed description is believed to be unnecessary.

2,868,265 Patented Jan. 13, 1959 A plurality of conventional forming rolls 16 are disposed between the arms 11, 12 and are rotatably supported by brackets 17 which are secured to the arm 11. The forming rolls 16 are adapted to be rotated by drive means contained within the frame 10 and the rolls are arranged in the conventional manner shown to form sheet metal and the like into a tubular member.

As best seen in Figure 2, sheet metal S may be fed between the rotating forming rolls 16 where it will be formed into a tubular member disposed about the arm 12 (see Figure 3). After the tubular member is formed, means (not shown) may be actuated to move the tubular member in an axial direction between the welding wheels 13, 14. where adjoining edges of the tubular member may be permanently joined together.

My invention comprises a plurality of guide rolls 18 adapted to guide the sheet metal about the arm '12 as it leaves the forming rolls 16 and a plurality of guide rolls 19 adapted to guide and size the sheet metal as it is moved in an axial direction between the welding wheels 13, 14. As illustrated, the guide rolls 18, 19 are presently formed of rubber-like material and they are arranged in pairs and are disposed about the arm 12 in the following manner.

As shown in Figures 1, 2 and 3, a foot 20 extends laterally from the frame 10 and a stationary roll frame 21 is disposed on one side of the arm 12 and is secured to the foot 20 by any suitable means. A shifta'ble roll frame 22 is disposed on the opposite side of the arm 12 and the frame 22 is pivotally secured to the foot 20 at 22a for a purpose later to appear.

As previously mentioned, the rolls 18, 19 are arranged in pairs, each pair being carried by a body 23 that retatably supports the rolls in spaced-apart relation so that, in the present embodiment, the axis of one roll is perpendicular to the axis of the other roll. Each body 23 is pivotally secured to a slide 24 by means of a pin 25, and each slide 24 is slidably secured to a respective roll frame 21, 22 by means of gibs 26 (see Figures 4 .and 5). Each slide 24 threada'bly engages an adjusting screw 27 that is rotatably secured to a respective frame 21, 2-2 by means of a plate 28, and it will be clear that the pairs of rolls 18, 19 may be adjustably positioned by-moving the slide 24, to which the rolls are secured, along its gibs 26 by rotation of a respective screw 27.

As heretofore pointed out, each body 23 is pivotally secured to a respective slide 24 so that either one of the rolls 18, 19 may be positioned for engagement with the stock S by rocking the body 23 about its pivot. In the present embodiment, the body 23 adapted to be shifted secured to the body 23 and it will be clear that the body 23 may be rocked about its pivot by alternately applying pressure to one bore 31 while exhausting the other bore.

Referring particularly to Figures 2 and 3, it will be seen that the roll frame 22 is adapted to be shifted from the full-line position shown in Figure 2 to the position shown in Figure 3 by means of a fluid cylinder 34. The cylinder 34 is pivotally secured between spaced-apart arms 35 that are pivoted to the foot 20 at 36, and the piston rod 34a of the piston 34 is adapted to be pivotally secured to the roll frame 22 at 34b. A link 37 is pivoted between the arms 35 at 38 and a link 39 is pivoted to the link 37 at 40 and to a bracket 41 secured to the 3 foot 20. A handle 42 is secured to the link 39 for a purpose to be shown.

As illustrated in Figures 2 and 3, the links 37, 39 are normally aligned so that they support the arm 35 in the full-line position shown. However, if for any reason it becomes necessary, the roll frame 22 may be shifted to the dot-dash position shown wherein the rolls carried by the frame are spaced a considerable distance from the arm 12. This greatly facilitates adjustments and repairs on the apparatus and simplifies removal of stock that may become jammed.

The operation of the hereinbefore described apparatus is as follows: As shown in Figure 2, stock S will be fed between the forming rolls 16 so as to form it into a tubular member. As illustrated, the roll frame 22 and the mechanism carried thereby will be retracted by the cylinder 34 so as not to interfere with the stock as it passes from the rolls 16 to its position about the arm 12. It is to be noted that all of the bodies 23 have been shifted so that all the rolls 18 are positioned for engagement with the stock while the rolls 19 are retracted from engagement therewith.

After the trailing end of the stock leaves the forming rolls, the cylinder 34 will be actuated to shift the roll frame 22 from the position shown in Figure 2 to the position shown in Figure 3. This Will bring the rolls 18 carried by the frame 22 into engagement with the stock and will thus firmly hold the tubularly formed stock securely in position about the arm 12.

At this point, means will be actuated to shift each of the bodies 23 so that each of the rolls 18 will be retracted from engagement with the stock and each of the rolls 19 will be shifted into engagement therewith (see Figure 4). After the rolls 19 have been engaged with the stock, the means previously mentioned but not shown will be actuated to shift the tubularly formed stock in an axial direction between the welding wheels 13, 14 where the juxtaposed edges of the stock will be welded together.

As will be clear, the rolls 19 will effectively maintain the shape of the stock as it is moved in an axial direction without scratching or otherwise damaging the stock. Similarly, the rolls 18 also guide the stock without causing the damage that was so prevalent heretofore in prior art apparatus.

In view of the foregoing it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that I have accomplished at least the principal object of my invention and it will also be apparent to those skilled in the art that the embodiment herein described may be variously changed and modified, without departing from the spirit of the invention, and that the invention is capable of uses and has advantages not herein specifically described, hence it will be appreciated that the herein disclosed embodiment is illustrative only, and that my invention is not limited thereto.

I claim:

1. Apparatus for producing tubular members from relatively flat stock and for supporting the formed tubular member for axial movement, comprising forming means for forming said stock into a tubular member, a plurality of spaced guide means arcuately disposed to lie along the transverse periphery of the tubular member when formed,

each guide means comprising a pair of rolls, a first roll of each guide means having its axis generally parallel to the axis of the tubular member for rolling movement in the direction of the movement of said stock as it is formed to produce said tubular member, and a second roll of each guide means having its axis generally normal to the axis of the tubular member for rolling action as the tubular member is moved axially, and means for withdrawing said first rolls from engagement with the periphery of the tubular member and for substantially simultaneously ad- .vancing said second rolls to engagement with the periphcry of the tubular member.

2. Apparatus in accordance with claim 1 wherein the plurality of guide means are supported by a frame, at least a part of which is shiftable in a direction toward and away from the axis of the tubular member.

3. Apparatus for selectively guiding material for movement in two directions one of which is transverse to the other, comprising a pivoted body member, a pair of rolls rotatably carried by said body member, one roll having its axis generally parallel to the body member pivot axis for rollably guiding said material for movement in one direction and the other roll having its axis transverse to the body member pivot axis for rollably guiding said material for movement in the other direction, and means for rocking said body about its pivot to withdraw one roll from engagement with said material while advancing the other roll to engagement with said material.

4. The construction of claim 3 and further including push members disposed on opposite sides of the body member pivot axis and alternately pushing against said body member to effect rocking thereof.

5. The construction of claim 3 and further including a slide member for supporting said body member for bodily movement in a direction toward and away from said material.

6. The construction of claim 3 and further including a pair of fluid cylinders disposed on opposite sides of the body member pivot axis, pistons in each cylinder, each piston having a piston rod engageable with a respective part of said body, and means for admitting fluid to one cylinder and exhausting fluid from the other cylinder, whereby the piston rod of said one cylinder is projected against said body to effect rocking movement thereof.

7. Apparatus for guiding material for movement in I two directions one of which is transverse to the other,

comprising a pivoted body member, a pair of rolls rotatable carried by said body member and each disposed to guide the material in a respective direction, and means for rocking said body about its pivot to withdraw one roll from engagement with the material whileadvancing the other roll to engagement with such material.

8. Apparatus for guiding a cylindrical member for movement in two directions one of which is transverse to the other, comprising a plurality of spaced guide means arcuately disposed to lie along the transverse periphery of the cylindrical member, each guide means comprising sets of roll pairs, a first roll of each set having its axis generally parallel to the longitudinal axis of the cylindrical member for rolling the latter about its longitudinal axis, and a second roll of each set having its axis generally normal to the longitudinal axisof said cylindrical member for rolling the latter'in a direction along its longitudinal axis, and means to withdraw the first rolls of each set from engagement with the periphery of said cylindrical member and for substantially simultaneously advancing the second rolls of each set into engagement with the periphery of said cylindrical member.

References (Jited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 572,830 Richardson Dec. 8, 1896 807,352 Boax Dec. 12, 1905 1,919,394 Rosenkranz July 25, 1933 1,938,049 Serrano Dec. 5, 1933 1,998,968 Rosin Apr. 23, 1935 2,062,604 Paxton Dec. 1, 1936 2,088,746 Kane Aug. 3, 1937 2,197,906 Tucker Apr. 23, 1940 2,515,786 Mitchell July 18, 1950 2,519,837 Lampard Aug. 22, 1950 FOREIGN PATENTS 487,453 France Apr. 12, 1918 

